How long after a car accident can you claim injury?

Car accident deadlines in all 50 states and D.C.

Years to file a lawsuit, counted from the accident (or, for wrongful death, from the death), and the earlier deadlines each state sets. Earlier deadlines are covered for the 10 largest states so far; where a state has a separate wrongful death period for motor vehicle accidents, the table shows that one.

• Alabama: Vehicle damage: sources differ between 2 years (§ 6-2-38) and 6 years (§ 6-2-34). To be safe, file within the shorter period.
• Colorado: Claims arising from the use or operation of a motor vehicle get 3 years; most other injury claims in Colorado get 2 (C.R.S. § 13-80-102).
• Colorado: Wrongful death: 4 years if the driver committed vehicular homicide and left the scene (C.R.S. § 13-80-102(2)).
• Connecticut: Two years from when the injury is first sustained or discovered, but never more than 3 years after the act that caused it.
• Connecticut: Wrongful death: And no more than 5 years after the act or omission that caused the death.
• Delaware: Vehicle damage: sources differ between 2 years (§ 8107) and 3 years (§ 8106). To be safe, file within the shorter period.
• Florida: Vehicle damage: Florida has a 2-year limit for actions founded on negligence (§ 95.11(5)(a)) and a 4-year limit for injuring personal property (§ 95.11(3)(g)). Don’t count on the longer one.
• Georgia: Loss of consortium claims have 4 years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).
• Hawaii: For a motor vehicle accident, the deadline is the latest of 2 years after the accident, 2 years after the last no-fault benefit payment, or 2 years after the last workers’ compensation or public assistance payment for the crash (HRS § 431:10C-315(b)).
• Hawaii: Wrongful death: Hawaii’s general limit for injury to persons; the wrongful death statute has no separate period.
• Illinois: Wrongful death: 5 years if the death resulted from violent intentional conduct (740 ILCS 180/2).
• Iowa: Wrongful death: Iowa’s general limit for injuries to the person.
• Kentucky: For a motor vehicle accident, 2 years from the injury or from the last no-fault (PIP) payment, whichever is later. Most other injury claims in Kentucky get 1 year (KRS 413.140).
• Kentucky: Wrongful death: 1 year after the estate’s personal representative is appointed, and no later than 2 years after the death. For a motor vehicle accident, 2 years after the death or the last no-fault (PIP) payment.
• Louisiana: The 2-year period applies to accidents on or after July 1, 2024 (Acts 2024, No. 423). Before that, the limit was 1 year.
• Louisiana: Wrongful death: Since August 1, 2025: 1 year from the death or 2 years from the injury, whichever is longer (Acts 2025, No. 176).
• Maine: Wrongful death: In a homicide, 6 years from discovering the cause of action.
• Michigan: Wrongful death: if the person died before the 3 years ran out, the estate’s personal representative gets 2 years after appointment, but no more than 3 years after the period ran out (MCL 600.5852).
• Minnesota: Negligence claims get 6 years; intentional torts get 2 (Minn. Stat. § 541.07).
• Minnesota: Wrongful death: And within 6 years after the act or omission.
• Mississippi: Wrongful death: The wrongful death statute sets no period of its own, so the general 3-year limit applies.
• Montana: Vehicle damage: 2 years under § 27-2-207, though a negligence-based claim may get 3 under § 27-2-204. To be safe, file within the shorter period.
• Montana: Wrongful death: 10 years if the death was a homicide.
• New Hampshire: Wrongful death: New Hampshire’s general limit for personal actions, with a discovery rule.
• New Jersey: Wrongful death: No limit if the death resulted from murder or manslaughter for which the defendant was convicted.
• New York: The no-fault time limits can be excused with written proof of a clear and reasonable justification for the delay.
• North Carolina: For personal injury and property damage, the claim doesn’t accrue until the harm becomes apparent or reasonably should have (G.S. 1-52(16)).
• Oregon: Vehicle damage: the statute gives 6 years for injuring personal property (ORS 12.080(4)), but some decisions apply the 2-year rule. To be safe, file within the shorter period.
• Oregon: Wrongful death: 3 years after the injury causing the death is discovered, and no later than 3 years after the death.
• Tennessee: The 1-year injury limit can be extended if the at-fault driver is criminally prosecuted for the conduct — ask a Tennessee lawyer right away.
• Tennessee: Wrongful death: Tennessee’s wrongful death statutes set no period of their own; courts apply the 1-year injury limit.
• Texas: For wrongful death, the statute says the claim accrues on the date of death.
• Vermont: For injuries, the 3 years run from when the injury is discovered.
• Vermont: Wrongful death: In a homicide, up to 7 years after discovering the death.
• Washington: Wrongful death: Washington’s general limit for injury to the person.
• Wisconsin: Property damage from a motor vehicle accident gets 3 years; other property damage gets 6 (Wis. Stat. § 893.52(1)).
• Wisconsin: Wrongful death: 2 years if the death arose from an accident involving a motor vehicle.

Three deadlines, not one

1. Insurance deadlines — days to a year. Your policy requires prompt notice, and some states put numbers on it. Florida’s PIP pays medical benefits only if you get initial care within 14 days. New York’s no-fault rules require written notice within 30 days and medical bills within 45 days of each treatment. In Michigan, a suit for PIP benefits must generally be filed within a year unless the insurer got written notice or paid benefits within that year.
2. Claims against a public body — months. If a city bus, a public employee or a road defect is involved, notice rules come first. California requires a claim to the public entity within 6 months; New York requires a notice of claim on a city, county or other public corporation within 90 days.
3. The lawsuit deadline — years. This is the statute of limitations in the table above. It’s the date by which a lawsuit must be filed, not the date the claim has to settle.

Can you claim days or weeks after the accident?

Legally, yes: the lawsuit deadline is measured in years. In practice, waiting costs you. Some insurance rules expire within days or weeks, and a gap between the accident and your first treatment gives an insurer room to question whether the crash caused the injury. Report the crash, get checked, and notify your insurer as soon as you can.

When the clock starts — and what can change it

• Injury and property damage: usually the date of the accident.
• Wrongful death: the date of death. Texas, New York, Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina say so in the statute; the calculator counts from the date of death for every state where we list a wrongful death deadline.
• Exceptions: some situations pause or extend a deadline — for example, North Carolina’s injury clock starts when the harm becomes apparent, and Illinois allows 5 years for a death caused by violent intentional conduct. Others shorten it. They differ by state, so treat the calculator’s date as the latest safe date, not a target.